Jan. 16--HICKORY -- Dr. Vondell Clark said the mother was astounded when her daughter came home and ate carrots, something she had never been able to get the girl to do. But Clark couldn't take the credit, he passed it on to "Carrot the Groundhog."
Carrot is a hand puppet used in the Healthy House program, an initiative of Catawba Valley Medical Center aimed at combating childhood obesity. Carrot got his name from his favorite food -- carrots -- which he enjoys stealing from the children, grabbing them out of the participants' hands when manned by one of the employees of the house.
"It's just one way of making it exciting rather than just telling them, 'Eat your carrots,'" Clark, the medical director for the program, said.
The program, housed in the former residence of a local doctor and on the campus of CVMC, gets its name from its focus -- to create the perfect healthy house full of nutritious food, exercise areas and a sensory area where participants are taught to get in touch with their five senses. It was created with two three-year grants, totaling $825,000, from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and The Duke Endowment.
The Healthy House will be dedicated to the community at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Statistics show children are getting heavier and having more "adult" health problems than ever before. It's a problem people in the medical field have identified and are working on how to help these children lose weight and prevent others from following in their footsteps.
"There's the old dichotomy of diet and exercise -- the old energy in/energy out equation," Clark said. "But if it were that simple, why are so many children overweight? Why are so many of them developing Type 2 diabetes or suffering from fatty liver disease?"
Clark thinks he may be on to a solution with FAN, a program through the Healthy House, standing for fitness, awareness and nutrition.
The residence housing was remodeled last summer through the grant from The Duke Endowment, which also backed a treatment component for overweight children.
The grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust was used to create the preventative program for children between the ages of 3 and 4 considered at-risk of becoming obese.
Children considered at-risk for obesity come from low-income homes and/or have at least one overweight parent, Clark said.
In the house, healthy food choices are available in the kitchen area. Dietitian Lynn Winkler explains the exercise she has children do to become aware of what foods are healthy and which are not.
"We have all the food in this picnic basket," Winkler said, lifting the top of the basket, "and the kids put the healthy foods on the picnic table and the unhealthy ones in the trash can."
Valerie Duran, a dietetic intern, said she has the children try a new healthy food every day of the program, expanding their taste.
Next to the kitchen is a room transformed into an exercise area, which extends into the house's garage. Children can play a miniature form of basketball in the room or do an obstacle course, for example.
A tennis court out back will be resurfaced with colorful squares and provide room for basketball, soccer and games.
"Unlike other programs that pay lip service to exercise, we emphasize activity," said Wellness Coordinator Andrew Miller. "Because if you don't have the fitness component, you don't have FAN."
Just like adults trying to learn new behaviors, children must start from where they are and progress by steps.
"It's a long step getting a child from text messaging to working outside in a garden, but if we do it step-by-step, we can do it," Clark said.
Children begin in the program's technological playroom, which does have monitors with game capabilities, but the child has to be moving in order to use them. Selections include Dance, Dance Revolution and Wii games. Children then move to the activity room, where a selection of toys is available for active play. The next step would be outdoor activity, with the future possibility of a garden where children will cultivate vegetables exists. The garden would give an outdoor activity for the children as well as being an educational tool, by teaching them the origin of food.
It's a far cry from the normal medical environment, which Clark refers to as using a "take two handouts and call me in the morning" approach.
"We tell the kids their life is a book and they have the pencil to write the end," Clark said.
And the program gets away from people taking on the blame for their physical state.
"It's not our fault, but it is our responsibility, and that brings a feeling of empowerment to the person," Clark said. "In this life, there are no failures, only undesirable outcomes and opportunities to learn."
The grants cover the cost for participants for the first two years of its existence. The children were chosen to participate in this year's program, which will be open to the public next year.
Healthy House also runs programs for obese children and adults. For more information, call 326-3410.
-----
To see more of the Hickory Daily Record or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.hickoryrecord.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Hickory Daily Record, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.